Wig or wiglet carrying case



Dec. 1956 L... SCHUMER ETAL WIG OR WIGLET CARRYING CASE Filed July 28, 1965 Louls ScHuMER BY SOLOMON KRAMER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,289,822 WIG 0R WIGLET CARRYING CASE Louis Schumer, 5402 Beverly Road, and Solomon Kramer, 543 E. 95th St., both of Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed July 28, 1965, Ser. No. 475,468 5 Claims. (Cl. 206--8) The present invention relates to a novel wig or wiglet carrying case.

Although the use of wigs and wiglets has increased tremendously in recent years, the conventional flexible, zippered hat boxes have been used as a means for carrying said wigs. These hat boxes necessitated the attachment of a stand to the bottom of the inside of the box, as a holder for the head or half-head form upon which the wig or wiglet respectively is placed. In most instances these inserts or stands were made of stiff cardboard which would warp and deteriorate because of the constant use thereof. Another disadvantage of said inserts resides in its mode of attachment to the bottom of the box which normally consisted in the use of nuts and bolts. The constant removal of the head-form and/or the wig from the said insert had a tendency to loosen said bolts so that the stand would become wobbly. Thus, it is apparent that the inserts were not firmly attached or made of durable material to ensure the user of a firm stand upon which to place a dressed Wig or wiglet to be used at a future date. In addition, the presence of a zipper as the closure means tended to catch the hair of the wig within said zipper when closing it, thereby disturbing the setting of the wig. The flexible nature of the hat box offered another obstacle against the users effort to retain the setting of the wig or wiglet intact for future use, because any pushing against the sides of said box resulted in its contact with the wig or wiglet inside. Consequently, the need for an improved carrying case for wigs or wiglets is apparent.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the instant invention to provide a rigid wig and/or wiglet carrying case having an integral holding means for the head block carrying said wig or wiglet.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rigid wig carrying case having a closure means, which eliminates the zipper.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an attractive unbreakable, rigid plastic wig or wiglet carrying case.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a molded, rigid, unbreakable, plastic wig or wiglet carrying case wherein the head stand is formed integral with said carrying case, which is composed of two open containers, preferably of equal size, secured to each other by a closure means and reinforced at their open rims by means of an integral head which also contains integral positioning means therein. All parts except the handle and the closure means are molded integral with the body of the carrying case which comprises an open top container secured to an open bottom container at their open rims, preferably by means of a hinge, an inter-reacting locking device situated on the side walls of both containers, an integral head stand situated on the bottom wall, integral reinforcing means which encircles the open rims of both containers, and integral positioning means situated within said reinforcing means, said positioning means consisting essentially of a continuous slot encircling half of each container and adapted to engage a continuous rigid projection encircling the other half of each container.

Other objects of this invention will become apparant upon reading the following specification in connection with the drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the wig or wiglet carrying case in closed position.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the device of FIG- URE l in open position.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view through 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through 55 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, the wig or wiglet carrying case of the present invention comprises a rigid, plastic carrying case for wigs or wiglets molded in two open containers of equal size from two sheets of non-resilient, rigid, unbreakable plastic. The method usually or preferably employed is injection molding of plastic pellets such as polyethylene, polypropylene or the like, whereby said pellets are extruded in a single operation into a mold of each half of the instant carrying case. The bottom container is provided with a stand molded integral therewith and situated on the inside of the bottom wall. Each of the halves (containers) are provided with an integral bead encircling the open rims thereof for strengthening purposes, said bead also containing the positioning means which consists essentially of a continuous slot encircling half of each container and adapted to engage a continuous rigid projection which encircles the other half of each container. The two halves, namely the top and bottom halves, constitute the novel carrying case of this invention, to which need only be added a handle onto the outer surface of the top Wall and a suitable closure means. Preferably, the closure means constitutes a hinge and a pair of locking devices such as a draw lock situated on the side walls of said carrying case. Although the draw lock has been specifically disclosed, other locking devices come within the scope of this invention.

The rigid, plastic carrying case for wigs or wiglets comprises essentially a top half 1, having a top wall 2, and side walls 3, and an open rim 4, reinforced by integral bead 5, which coincides with and is positioned on open rim 6, of bottom half 7, which is also reinforced by integral bead 8.

The positioning mechanism consists essentially of a continuous semi-circular slot 9, situated within half of beads 5 and 8, said slot 9 engaging a. continuous semicircular projection 10, protruding from the other half of beads 5 and 8 and integral therewith.

Beads 5 and 8 may be of any suitable thickness and depth depending on the size of the container and on the thickness of the wall of said container. Wiglet carrying cases are preferably about 9 /2 by 9% inches, whereas the wig carrying cases are about 14 /2 by 14 /2 inches. The thickness of the wall of said carrying case must be sufficient to afford strength and rigidity thereto. It has been found that a wall about 0.3 mm. in thickness is suitable for our carrying cases, however this does not preclude the utilization of thinner or thicker walls just as long as the rigidity requirement is met. The plastic walls are preferably opaque and may be tinted any color to render it more attractive.

Beads 5 and 8 may be about 0.3 mm. thick so that the thickness of the side walls at their outer rims is doubled, thereby reinforcing the instant carrying case at the very points of the greatest wear. The depth of beads 5 and 8 determines the depth of slot 9, which is preferably greater than 0.3 mm. in order to afford a proper positioning mechanism. Projection 10 is rigid, is only slightly tapered and terminates in a rounded end which fits snugly into slot 9. It is obvious to one skilled in the art that the thickness and depth of the reinforcing beads as well as the thickness of the walls of the carrying case can be varied to suit the particularly needs of the manufacturer.

An essential feature of this novel carrying case is the rigid holding stand 11, which is molded integral with bot- .IOIUJ half 7, and protrudes from the inner surface of bottom wall 12. Head forms or half head forms made of styrene, polyethylene, etc. are positioned on stand 11 and are held in place because of a frictional fit between the opening in the aforesaid forms which coincides with stand 11. Accordingly, the shape and size of rigid stand 11 can be varied to coincide with that of the openings in the head forms. -While a slightly upwardly tapered cylinder is shown in FIGURE 3, a conical, rectangular, square or other suitable shape is embraced by the present invention.

Another feature of this novel carrying case is the simple closure means, which eliminates the zipper and all its disadvantages, and is represented by hinge 13, and a pair of locking devices, situated on the side walls of containers 1 and 7. The particular device illustrated is a draw lock, heretofore used on valises, and comprises a pair of rectangular bars 15, slidably interconnected and pivotally attached to a metal bar which is affixed to side wall 17, of bottom container 7, said bars 15, adapted to engage or latch onto post 16, affiXed to side wall 3, of top container 1. This locking device may be afiixed to the side walls of the carrying case in any suitable manner such as by rivets, bolts and nuts, etc. Although the locking device disclosed is a draw lock, other suitable locking devices may be substituted therefor such as hooks and eyes, a pair of interlocking snaps, etc., Similarly, the shape of the locking device can be varied to embrace round, square, or polygon shapes. Additionally, the positions of the component parts of the locking device can be interchanged so that the posts are affixed to the bottom container and the latch to the top container.

A plastic handle 18, is affixed to the outer surface, and preferably centrally located on top wall 2, of top half 1, by means of rivets and washers to metal bars 19, or by other suitable means.

An optional but desirable feature of the instant carrying case resides in recessing both the top and the bottom walls so as to enable the two halves to rest on each other and still provide sufiicient clearance for the handle interposed therebetween. This feature is particularly useful for display purposes as well as provides a convenient stacking means. As a result of the aforesaid recessions top wall 2, is provided with an encircling projection 20, and bottom wall 12, is provided with a similar encircling projection 21.

Thus, it is apparent that the multiple deficiencies of the prior art hat boxes as carrying cases for wigs or wiglets have been overcome by the instant novel carrying case which is rigid, durable, attractive, unbreakable and simple to manufacture. The simple closure means eliminates broken zippers, and simplifies the closing and locking of 4 the carrying case. The integral rigid stand eliminates the deficiencies of the conventionally attached stands. The simplicity of manufacture from two sheets of nonresilient plastic by molding two equal containers and assembling them into a top half and a bottom half, considerably reduces the cost of the finished product.

While the invention has been described with reference to various embodiments thereof as hereinbefore set forth, it is clearly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but includes various modifications and equivalents within the scope of the instant invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A rigid, unbreakable molded plastic wig and wiglet carrying case comprising two open containers meeting at their open rims and secured to each other by a closure means, said containers being reinforced at their open rims by means of individually outer encircling integral beads, integral positioning means situated within each head, wherein each bead contains a continuous semi-circular slot and a continuous semi-circular rigid projection adapted to engage the semi-circular projection and semi-circular slot respectively of adjacent bead, and a rigid head stand formed integral with and protruding upwardly from the inner surface of the bottom wall of said carrying case.

2. A carrying case in accordance with claim 1, wherein the closure means comprises a hinge and a pair of locking devices situated on the side walls of the containers.

3. A carrying case in accordance with claim 1, wherein the two open containers are substantially equal in size.

4. A carrying case in accordance with claim 1, having a handle affixed to the outside of the top wall thereof.

5. A carrying case in accordance with claim 1, wherein both the top and bottom walls are recessed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 125,988 3/1941 Anderson.

573,789 12/1896 Lyons 206--8 680,022 8/ 1901 Charles. 710,060 9/ 1902 Karin. 2,117,157 5/1938 Florm-an. 2,748,677 6/ 1956 Berlant. 2,764,308 9/ 1956 Hoch. 3,199,665 8/1965 Eriksson 206-05 OTHER REFERENCES Saturday Evening Post, February 1963,

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner,

THERON E. CONDON, Examiner, I. Assistant Examiner. 

1. A RIGID, UNBREAKABLE MOLDED PLASTIC WIG AND WIGLET CARRYING CASE COMPRISING TWO OPEN CONTAINERS MEETING AT THEIR OPEN RIMS AND SECURED TO EACH OTHER BY A CLOSURE MEANS, SAID CONTAINERS BEING REINFORCED AT THEIR OPEN RIMS BY MEANS OF INDIVIDUALLY OUTER ENCIRCLING INTEGRAL BEADS, INTEGRAL POSITIONING MEANS SITUATED WITHIN EACH BEADS, WHEREIN EACH BEAD CONTAINS A CONTINUOUS SEMI-CIRCULAR SLOT AND A CONTINUOUS SEMI-CIRCULAR RIGID PROJECTION ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE SEMI-CIRCULAR PROJECTION AND SEMI-CIRCULAR SLOT RESPECTIVELY OF ADJACENT BEAD, AND A RIGID HEAD STAND FORMED INTEGRAL WITH AND PROTRUDING UPWARDLY FROM THE INNER SURFACE OF THE BOTTOM WALL OF SAID CARRYING CASE. 